Search the Dictionary

some kinds of food. Men love to hear of their power, but have an extreme disrelish to be told of their duty. Burke.

or to reveal occult things, by supernatural means. The diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain. Zech. x. 2.

at kine. Gen. xli. 20. The lion had not eaten the carcass. 1 Kings xiii. 28. With stories told of many a feat, How fairy Mab junkets eat. Milton. The island princes overbold Have eat our substance. Tennyson. His wretched estate is eaten up with mortgages. Thackeray.

A special business intrusted to a messenger; something to be told or done by one sent somewhere for the purpose; often, a verbal message; a commission; as, the servant was sent on an errand; to do an errand. Also, one's purpose in going anywhere. I have a secret errand to thee, O king. Judg. iii. 19. I will not eat til…

Any story told to excite wonder; common talk; the theme of talk. "Old wives' fables. " 1 Tim. iv. 7. We grew The fable of the city where we dwelt. Tennyson.

magined; especially, a feigned or invented story, whether oral or written. Hence: A story told in order to deceive; a fabrication; -- opposed to fact, or reality. The fiction of those golden apples kept by a dragon. Sir W. Raleigh. When it could no longer be denied that her flight had been voluntary, numerous fictions…

tell before occurence; to prophesy; to foreshow. Deeds then undone my faithful tongue foretold. Pope. Prodigies, foretelling the future eminence and luster of his character. C. Middleton.

To be informed by oral communication; to be told; to receive information by report or by letter. I have heard, sir, of such a man. Shak. I must hear from thee every day in the hour. Shak. To hear ill, to be blamed. [Obs.] Not only within his own camp, but also now at Rome, he heard ill for his temporizing and slow proc…

(Law), that species of testimony which consists in a a narration by one person of matters told him by another. It is, with a few exceptions, inadmissible as testimony. Abbott.

ants, esp. in the line of Jacob; an Israelite; a Jew. There came one that had escaped and told Abram the Hebrew. Gen. xiv. 13.

ut understanding from birth; a natural fool; a natural; an innocent. Life . . . is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Shak.

Not communicable; incapable of being communicated, shared, told, or imparted, to others. Health and understanding are incommunicable. Southey. Those incommunicable relations of the divine love. South. -- In`com*mu"ni*ca*ble*ness, n. -- In`com*mu"ni*ca*bly, adv.

ification, compensation, or remuneration for loss, damage, or injury sustained. They were told to expect, upon the fall of Walpole, a large and lucrative indemnity for their pretended wrongs. Ld. Mahon.

To appoint publicly or by authority; to proclaim or announce. [Obs.] I am told shall have no Lent indicted this year. Evelyn.

a percentage; as, interest at five per cent per annum on ten thousand dollars. They have told their money, and let out Their coin upon large interest. Shak.

ndian speech. Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matt. i. 23. And Pharaoh told them his dreams; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. Gen. xli. 8.

shalt destroy them that speak leasing. Ps. v. 6. Blessed be the lips that such a leasing told. Fairfax. Leasing making (Scots Law), the uttering of lies or libels upon the personal character of the sovereign, his court, or his family. Bp. Burnet.

the like. My legacy and message wherefore I am sent into the world. Tyndale. He came and told his legacy. Chapman. Legacy duty, a tax paid to government on legacies. Wharton. -- Legacy hunter, one who flatters and courts any one for the sake of a legacy.

The expected king and deliverer of the Hebrews; the Savior; Christ. And told them the Messiah now was born. Milton.

The middle of the night; twelve o'clock at night. The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve. Shak.